Monday, March 30, 2015

Several of the alums featured between now and reunion were degree marshals for their respective colleges during our commencement ceremony in May 1995, an honor awarded to the two students in each college with the highest GPA.San Francisco, California · Human Ecology

Name at CornellAllison Halpernajh2@cornell.eduTell us about what you're doing with your life.

I live in San Francisco with my husband, 6-year-old son, and three chickens! We spend much of our free time rock climbing, hiking, and camping.What advice would you give to a student starting at Cornell this year?

Make sure you spend at least one summer at Cornell! It's such a magical time when you can really appreciate your surroundings. And it's the only time of year when it's not likely to snow!

·What extracurricular activity or hobby from your time at Cornell was the most meaningful?

Serving on, and then co-leading, the Orientation Steering Committee was really meaningful to me, both while I was at Cornell as well as afterwards. What an opportunity to be entrusted with so much responsibility! I learned so many skills—organization, communication, collaboration, delegation—that I use professionally and personally.What does being a Cornell alumnus mean to you?Being a Cornell alum means being a part of a community of people doing some pretty amazing things. I am always so inspired when I read about what Cornellians are doing around the world! And I love meeting other alums—no matter when they graduated or what they studied, we always find something in common.

Monday, March 23, 2015

Toledo, Ohio · Agriculture and Life Sciences

sprzynosch@hotmail.comTell us about what you're doing with your life.After graduating from Cornell I went to medical school in my

hometown of Buffalo, NY along with several other Cornellians. Residency in Family Medicine took me to Toledo, OH where I also met my wife, Tammy. We married in 2004 and were blessed with our daughter, Isabella, a few years later. Professionally, I am in a private Family Medicine practice with four other physicians. One day a week I split my time between precepting Family Medicine Residents in their clinic and also working as an Associate Medical Director of our Health System's Health Insurance Company (ProMedica Health System and Paramount HealthCare, respectively). Outside of work, I am active with our church and Isabella's school. We just enjoyed our annual Father-Daughter Dance!

Which Cornell classmates do you keep in touch with?

Toshiki Matsui - we go way back. We first met in 2nd grade and have been friends ever since. Even after our time at Cornell, while I was in medical school in Buffalo, he was in grad school in Buffalo and we were roommates until dental school took him to Washington, DC. I also have kept in touch with Stephen Koster over the years. Both Toshiki and Stephen live in the DC area and I have been able to visit both on various occasions over the years. I also hear from Stephen McKee every once in a while.

How has your time at Cornell influenced you since you graduated?

No doubt about it, Cornell opens doors. It also helped me grow as a leader. Having been in leadership roles with the Cornell National Scholars and the CALS honor society (Ho-Nun-De-Kah), I felt confident tackling leadership roles in my career as well. I went on to be the Chief Resident at my training program. Later in my practice I became our Lead Physician as we are part of a larger Health System. Most recently, I have served as the Vice Chair of the Family Medicine Department at Toledo Children's Hospital.What extracurricular activity or hobby from your time at Cornell was the most meaningful?I was active in the Cornell National Scholars. I got involved in its Mentoring program as a Freshman and ultimately came to be the Mentoring chair for a few years. A group of us would head to a local Middle School twice a week in the late afternoon to help at-risk students with homework and also to mentor them so they could reach their full potential...like a "Big Brother/Big Sister program. They loved when we would take them to dinner in the campus dining halls. I worked with the same young man for a few years...truly an eye opening experience.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Yonkers, New York · Architecture, Art, and Planning

After graduating from Cornell with a Bachelor of Architecture degree, I worked as an architect for years, got married to an amazing woman, then took some time off to be a full time dad to our two children. When it was time to enter the professional world again, I decided to pursue theatrical set design, which had always been my real passion. I went back to school, got my MFA in set design from New York University, and am now happily working as a freelance set designer. I’m currently juggling: teaching set design at NYU Tisch, designing two shows at Juilliard, designing the set for the national tour of “Bullets Over Broadway.” designing Cornell’s sesquicentennial weekend celebration events, renovating my basement, and getting ready for movie night with my family. In other words, life is good!What was your favorite class at Cornell, or the one you found the most useful?

I loved so many of my classes at Cornell—honestly, there is not one that stands out by itself, but I definitely loved every single year of “archi-torture studio,” as well as the few classes I took outside the College of Architecture, Art & Planning - particularly the Intro to Native American Studies class.

·What extracurricular activity or hobby from your time at Cornell was the most meaningful?

I had so many great extracurricular experiences at Cornell, working in the scene shop at the Performing Arts Center, living in Risley and making theater there, rock-climbing, working for Cornell Productions… but I think my favorite extracurricular activity was working with the Cornell Concert Commission loading-in concerts and working security, and running spot light, etc. I met so many people who shared a love of live performance, but who came from so many different backgrounds and colleges.If you could change anything about your Cornell experience, what would it be?I don’t have many regrets in my life (or my Cornell experience), but if I had it all to do over again I would have participated in the Cornell in Rome program. I still haven’t been to Italy!

Monday, March 9, 2015

Denver, Colorado · Architecture, Art and Planning

I live in Denver, Colorado, with my boyfriend, and work in local government as a demographic analyst.What is your favorite memory of your time at Cornell?

I had the luxury of taking one class during a three-week summer session after freshman year. The weather was gorgeous and the small class size was refreshing after all the large lecture classes of the previous semesters. It was like a vacation and it’s when my fondness for Ithaca developed.

·

What was your favorite class at Cornell, or the one you found the most useful?

The question should be which class was least useful. All my classes were interesting and useful, from my very first urban and regional studies class, The American City, to Introduction to Modern Dance, where I realized my love for dance.How has your time at Cornell influenced you since you graduated?Cornell made me a better person. I may not have had the best time while I was there, but I always knew I would appreciate it in the long run. Cornell opened my mind, surrounded me with amazing people, and made me humble.

Monday, March 2, 2015

San Jose, California · Engineering

I live in Silicon Valley with my wife Rachel and our 3-year-old, Seth. Besides our own house, we also own a 5-acre walnut farm! I worked at Apple in the early 2000's, working on iBooks, and then, later, the 12-inch Powerbooks (before they all became MacBooks). Now, I am a training engineer for Altera, traveling around the country teaching people how to use my company's software. I do tech support for all of my family's tech; why not do it for my company's customers as well?What is your favorite memory of your time at Cornell?

After the concert at Bailey during Senior Week, some friends and I went to McGraw Tower. One of our friends was a chimesmaster and he was doing the concert that night. It ended up being an extended concert, mostly just for us. He played songs on his list and our requests for well over an hour. Next to graduation, it was the perfect ending to 4 amazing years.

·What extracurricular activity or hobby from your time at Cornell was the most meaningful?

I wouldn't call it an extracurricular activity, but the opportunity to work for 3 of my 4 years at Cornell Cinema was a life-changing experience. I enjoyed movies beforehand, but Cornell Cinema opened my eyes to films I had never even considered would be interesting to me: indies, foreign, documentaries, old classics. And the friends I made through CC, people who weren't engineers, were just amazing. I still keep in touch with some of them on Facebook. I still love the movies, see them every chance I get, and enjoy making them myself (for home or work).What does being a Cornell alumnus mean to you?It means that for the rest of my life, I am connected to a place that I will never forget, a place that set the course for the rest of my life, a place where I had fun, worked hard, and discovered just who I was. I don't think I can ever give back to Cornell what Cornell gave to me.